Salyut 6 was proving to be more reliable than originally planned. Over the winter of 1979-80, it was used as a 'home' for the first new design Soyuz-T vehicles while it was tested out for on a three-month stay in orbit.

Soyuz-T did not carry a crew as it was an early flight with a new vehicle. It had been tested within the 'Cosmos' programme - one of the flights was labelled as Cosmos 1001. It was interception of radio signals by amateur trackers within the Kettering Group that alerted observers of the Soviet space programme to the existence of the new craft.

Date

Time (UTC)

Event

1979 Dec 16

12:29

Soyuz T-1 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket into 193 x 203 kilometre orbit with aboard - it is a test flight and carries no crew